(Draft 1) The Cribs – Newcastle University Basement 30/09/09

I had seen The Cribs live a total of two times prior to tonight and had experience of what to expect from them. However, there was a slight change this time in the form of an additional forth band member; Johnny Marr. Whether or not this was a factor, or the reason being that the venue literally warmed to the band, but in comparison to the other times I have seen The Cribs this was one of those nights which is going to be hard to top.
The new album ‘Ignore The Ignorant’ was prominent in the set list being just two weeks since the release so a lot of the songs were quite new to me and have raised my expectations of what the album sounds like in full. The lack of older songs such as ‘Martell’ and ‘You’re Gonna Lose Us’, which were crowd pleasers at past shows, didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the show itself. Although it was sad to some to see them go, tracks from the new album such as ‘City of Bugs’ were deemed just as good.
As usual, drummer Ross mounted the drum kit various times during the show and it amazes me how it is humanly possible to still drum whilst in that sort of position. Stuff like this turns the ‘gig’ into a ‘performance’, something The Cribs have picked up on through the years.
An excellent example of this was ‘Men’s Needs’, from the third studio album, which certainly got the crowd going. This was the song which sparked interest and broke them into commercial success. Played towards the end of the set, by which point a lot of people would usually be tired from jumping around, the crowd’s excitement seemed to rise as though everyone had been force fed Red Bull.
Being a Northumbria University student, I felt biased against the venue, caused by the rivalry between Newcastle and Northumbria Universities. I really wasn’t expecting it to be all that great so I was completely surprised at the sound and lighting during the show as well as the venue itself, which heated up very soon, which was apparent to the band. “This is the hottest venue we’ve ever played in”. Last time they played Newcastle was two and a half years ago, promoting the third album and it was back then they first experienced Newcastle University’s Basement, thus they decided to play here again.